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Natronal Myth Busters: The most Important British and Australians, living or dead

Citation

Tranter, BK and Donoghue, J, Natronal Myth Busters: The most Important British and Australians, living or dead, XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology: Book of abstracts, 15-21 July 2018, Toronto, pp. 963. ISSN 2522-7025 (2018) [Non Refereed Conference Paper]

Abstract

National identity in Western nations has been claimed to be founded on the
myths of a ‘golden age’, personified through heroes, saints or sages. If this is the
case, contemporary citizens may be expected to identify historical and mythical
characters as important national figures. Using national survey data from the
United Kingdom and Australia, we asked who are the most important British or
Australians, living or dead. By far the most frequently selected important British
people were Queen Elizabeth II, and the former Prime Minister and WWII leader,
Sir Winston Churchill. Like the British, Australians also selected former prime
ministers, but also surgeons, a saint, and a cricketer in their top 10, although
Australian responses were far more evenly distributed among several important
individuals. The most important people identified in both countries tended not to
be mythical heroes from an earlier ‘golden age’, nor contemporary sportspeople,
but for the most part, those who have had a direct influence upon the lives of the
citizens of each nation. Our findings suggest that the ‘myths’ associated with a
‘golden age’ of nationhood are to a large extent ‘busted’.